Welcome to our brand-new podcast series, Awesome Sauce, in which we’ll explore the Traits that Make Life Great in yourself and others.

If you’d rather watch the video of this podcast, then here you go!

And if you’d like to read along, here’s a transcript:
Happy Winter Solstice from the University of life. I’m your host, Shaun Roundy. From now on every day is going to be a little bit brighter and Christmas is right around the corner. So what’s on your list this year?

I’ve got something special for you by the way that I hope you’ll enjoy. But first may I make a recommendation? What I suggest – what I think you ought to want for Christmas this year – is awesome sauce.

In other words, to develop your best self, your best traits, to be your awesomest being because if you do that, then your life will literally drip with awesomeness. And what could possibly be better than that?

If you’re a quick thinker, and you’ve taken my advice and decided that you want to enjoy some awesome sauce this year, then fantastic, because what I got for you is a whole Podcast Series named Awesome Sauce, in which we’ll explore the Traits that Make Life Great.

We’ll do our best to entertain you with stories, examples and insights with the firm belief, the absolute conviction, that ideas change people’s lives. And that as you let these ideas in, they will become part of you and you’ll naturally exude more and more awesome sauce in whichever ways you choose.

It’s like Herbert Spencer said, “The great aim of education is not knowledge, but action.” And that’s what happens when you expand your mind with good ideas.

By the way, if you’re watching this podcast on our YouTube channel, you’ll notice we’ve got our podcast page open. And we’ve got Herbert Spencer’s awesome quote, open there right there. So you can find this on our YouTube channel, sometimes on our just audio podcast, sometimes on both, so if you don’t want to miss anything, be sure to subscribe, and we’ll keep delivering the best content that we can come up with.

Now if you really want to have fun, and if you want to get the most from this series, then do your homework consistently which I will assign from time to time. And right now here is your first assignment: have a conversation with someone and identify two or three of your favorite traits in your favorite people. Your list can include things like kindness, strength, intelligence and competence, sense of humor, courage, creativity, attractiveness, generosity, spontaneity or adventurousness or dozens of other possibilities.

Next, discuss why you like them so much. What makes those traits so appealing? Are they fun? Are they admirable or attractive? Do they make you feel good? And do you wish you could be just like them? The more thoroughly you do this homework the better you’ll be prepared for a rather pleasant revelation in our next episode, which you will find on the University of Life.

So much talking! Let’s have a story before we finish up this episode, to whet your appetite for more of the awesome sauce podcast series coming up soon. I’d like to tell you a story about three of my all-time favorite people. I met Joan on a long train ride while living in Beijing many years ago, and she soon introduced me to Kihn and Kristen.

They were students at a university about a 10 minute bike ride from mine, and once we met, I would visit them all the time. It felt so good just to be around them. They were open and warm and vulnerable and generous. It seemed as if they had their own emotional needs met well enough that kindness naturally spilled over in the way they treated others, without a second thought.

When they invited me to their University for Thanksgiving dinner, I really wanted to pig out, everything was so good, but I restrained myself. Kristen gave me her room for the night, and I awoke to a knock on the door with the three girls each holding a different flavor of pie for me. I will love these girls forever and it makes me happy to say so.

After leaving Beijing, I spontaneously ran into two of them walking down the street in southern China, and I could not have been happier as we piled on several more unforgettable adventures, which you can read about, if you like, in my book, an American in China, starting over, which introduces you to MANY more of my all-time favorite people and the awesome sauce traits that will make me love them forever.

Now, back to awesome sauce, notice what happens when you look for the good in others. You find it. Notice what happens when you focus on those good parts. It blesses your life all over again. It elevates you, makes you want to experience those traits again, and makes it feel like that’s well within your reach. 

But don’t take my word for it, do your homework and experience it for yourself. Remember: have a conversation, list two or three of your favorite traits in your favorite people, and discuss what makes those so awesome.

Then let’s talk about it, you and me, all of us, on uofife.com. Leave a comment and tell us about your favorite traits and what happens when you discuss them. I’m excited to hear and celebrate YOUR awesome sauce stories. 

Remember to subscribe, and until next time, live smart, live happy!